The Next Few Days
by SobreSarita
Summary: This will be a multi-chapter following the mid-season finale.
1. Chapter 1

"Due to some turbulence, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign."

The announcement rang especially loud in the flight attendants' cabin, where for about 75 seconds, Mindy and Danny had been locked in each other's embrace. They parted reluctantly, the air feeling cold as they returned to be their individual selves. Danny smirked at Mindy and led her back to their seats. He was rather happy with himself, but she was lost in thought. As she dabbed away some of her, now spread, lipstick, she took her seat against the window. She would have to go back on her word again with Cliff. Well, Danny's words. Danny. She looked over at him.

Now, with his head back and his eyes closed, he sat in silence. She was deep in it, now. She was pulled into him with every look and there was no way to avoid these feelings for her colleague. But what now? She turned off her overhead light and he peaked his eyes over at her. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder and soon she was asleep. He fell asleep right after.

The red-eye was about 20 minutes away from JFK when they were woken by a voice from a flight attendant asking them to pull their shade down. It was early morning and she didn't want "to disturb the passengers".

For a moment, Mindy forgot any anxiety she might have had. This man knew all her flaws and had seen every inch of her body. There was nothing left to learn about her, just time to share. Danny said that no guy that really wanted to be with a woman would ever let her go. Maybe he would never let _her_ go. Maybe this was it.

Danny also looked distracted. He knew he hadn't made a rash decision. This was all he thought about for months. He had been planning the opportune moment since he heard about her breakup with her fiancé. And now it happened. And he was never going to let her out of his sight. "Hey, Min," his voice cracked, "want to come over and get the rest of our night's sleep at my apartment?" It wasn't any closer to the JFK airport, in Queens, but he had to hang onto her.

She had to bite, too. "Okay. Yes." She said, quietly. They sat in silence for the entire descent but were briefly back to their bickering selves in the terminal, looking for the exit to the street. (Mindy still had her huge bag and refused to take the subway, though a cab would easily cost $70 to Manhattan.)

In the taxi, they sat close enough to touch, but not so much to take his mind off the rising fee. Danny sighed every dollar the fare went up. Mindy sighed every time Danny sighed. Finally they arrived at Danny's building in midtown.

Once they got the mail and heaved her suitcase up to his floor, they arrived at the door with expectation. Danny chuckled nervously, not knowing exactly what Mindy wanted once they walked inside. "We have about three hours until we have to leave for work." He said, looking at his watch.

"Okay, I am so tired!" Mindy answered, trying to cap the expectations at that.

Danny, a little relieved, pushed the door open and laid their bags down over the threshold and shut the door. Mindy walked over and collapsed on the sofa. Now he was disappointed. He didn't need to _do_ anything, but she didn't feel welcome enough in his life to sleep in his bed? He stared a bit at her cute, bundled up body, already half asleep on the couch.

She pulled the throw blanket up in the air and waved him to join her underneath. They were both still cold from outside, but they soon warmed up under the throw and soon they were both asleep, Danny on top of Mindy.


	2. Chapter 2

Mindy and Danny woke up to the alarm he set on his cell phone.

"Min, time to get going to work." He whispered.

She stirred in her clothes from yesterday. It took her a long minute to process where she was: back in New York, in Danny's apartment, on his couch, in his arms. It flooded back to her now. "Morning." She smiled. One thing she knew about herself was that, when she woke up, there was nothing more adorable than her bedhead. She mussed it up even more and smiled her cutest smile.

She didn't know that her nap partner needed none of this effort. He was already intensely hooked. He sniffed his tshirt. He even smelled like her, now. He smirked back at her. He patted her on the butt and stepped up over to his bedroom closet to start getting dressed. There wasn't enough time for a shower, but the extra minutes of sleep were worth it.

Mindy began digging through her suitcase by the door for her cutest outfit from the conference. If she was going to wear a stale outfit, it had to be the best one.

Danny stepped out of his closet with his shirt off and began mixing the egg batter for French toast, what he made last time she slept over. He heated up the griddle. Mindy watched his muscular back hop around the kitchen. He knew very well what he was doing. When he turned around, she flicked her eyes back down to her suitcase. Should he touch her? Should he go over and kiss her again? He wouldn't be able to all day at work. Danny set down the mixing bowl and walked over to his colleague, who was shyly trying to pull on her pantyhose, and stopped right before her.

He almost had the guts to grab her and kiss her, but instead he extended his hand and patted her on the back. She pursed her lips and looked up at him now, at his shirtless physique. She exhaled, letting out her stomach and ribs. "Uh… thanks for that." She spoke to his lips. He leaned in and so did she for a short peck. They both breathed out heavily through their noses. Relaxation. Mindy looked down to her half-pulled up pantyhose. "I'm gonna… uh. Yeah."

"Yeah, right." He stepped back and went over to continue cutting slices of bread.

They ate and finished getting dressed.

Mindy was, for the first time, quiet on their morning commute. They held onto the same pole in the subway, their hands touching slightly.

Soon they were back in the elevator, where they used to feel so much electricity and now just –

Cliff walked in.

"Good morning Dr. Castellano, Mindy." He shakily spoke. "Could we uh, talk about the email later?"

Mindy cleared her throat, now sweating. "Sure, just let me set down my things in the office. You can come and we can speak there."

Danny looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He was pretty confident that he was safe with her, but he hated the idea of them speaking alone in an office.

The three stepped into Shulman and Associates to see Morgan and Peter beaming by the door. Danny and Mindy parted ways around the reception desk. Cliff and Mindy closed the door behind them, with Morgan and Peter suspiciously lingering around her office.

"Look." She stayed standing. Cliff sighed heavily.

"You said you wanted to make it work with me!" He said defensively.

"Well, I've had some time to think," she mentally laughed at the word 'think,' "and I don't want to be with someone who reluctantly accepts me back, I want to be with someone who wants me."

"I want you!" He stood up, too.

Mindy finally looked up from her shoes and, instead of looking at nervous Cliff, looked at the three silhouettes outside of her door. One silhouette was shorter and muscular. She smiled to herself and stood firmly in her statement. "Cliff, I haven't been faithful to you and there is no way I can be. I don't want to be with someone I think is out of my league and who makes so few mistakes. I just…"

Cliff had already resigned. He picked up his coat and opened the door to Peter and Morgan (and a further away Danny), sighed, and stepped out of the practice's office.

Morgan punched the door-frame. Mindy screamed, "Morgan! Was that necessary?"

"Your pride is getting in the way of true love, Dr. L." Morgan exclaimed.

Peter finished the thought, "Forgive the guy. I've been in his shoes–"

Mindy raised her hand to stop him, "My God, Peter, we all know you've been dumped, try working on more topics of conversation."

He deflected her insult, "well who are you going to make lil' caramel latte babies with, now?"

Danny cleared his throat and went back to his office.

**A/N: I suspect one or two more chapters.**


	3. Chapter 3

Mindy followed Danny to his office, where he could finally smile his biggest.

"Alright," she shut the door, "calm down." She was pleased that he was pleased.

"So you and Cliff, huh? You're – you're done?"

"Oh, come on! Don't pretend you weren't listening to every word." She raised a hand delicately in front of him."Sooo," her voice became so high it was like a whistle, "are we going to discuss…?" She narrated this.

"Min, I'll take what I can get. Whatever you wanna give, I'll take."

"Okay, Danny, I want to be serious with you, I do, but you have sounded like Ray Romano ever since we visited your dad."

"What?! Because he's Italian?!" Danny got heated and stood up.

"Anyway, Danny!" She sat him back down on his desk, not removing her hands from his shoulders yet, "I think I don't know what I wanna give because I'm not sure how much you _really_ will take."

He took her hands in his, whispering, "I want everything." They smiled at each other briefly before Mindy saw the time and walked out of his office, feigning nonchalance while she entered the reception area.

Betsy stood up, "Dr. Lahiri, you have a patient in with Nurse Tamra in phlebotomy. She went in about 4 minutes ago."

"Thanks Betsy. Hey, how was your stay-cation?"

Betsy flicked her eyes over at a loitering Jeremy. "It was nice. Simple," she whimpered. "Not disappointing. How was the conference?"

"The trip was great. I saw Reese Witherspoon at the 3rd street farmers market while I was trying to find papayas," Mindy gloated, while Betsy tried her best shocked face, "not to eat, but I made it into a tropical cocktail." Tamra and Mindy's patient, Gloria, arrived from phlebotomy and Mindy guided her into the exam room.

After a long day of catching up with work, Danny stepped over to Mindy's office. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah yeah let me just put this away right here," she squeaked, placing a file in her outbox. "Now I am."

They stepped out, "let's … uh… take the stairs." Mindy suggested.

"Don't wanna run into Cliff?"

"What?" She acted surprised at the accusation. "I just, ha, I just wanted to start getting more active, you know?"

He smirked and led them down the stairs, coming out closer to the door by the street. Danny put his arm around her waist as they headed towards the entrance to the subway. "You're coming over, right? You left your suitcase at my place." He kissed the top of her head.

"OhmyGod," a ruddy voice from behind them gasped. "Dr. C and Dr. L?" The mortified pair turned around to see Morgan, panting and holding Mindy's bedazzled sunglasses.

"Oh my _God_," Mindy responded, contributing nothing. Mindy and Morgan both covered there mouths in shock while Danny began blubbering.

"Look, look, look, Morgan–"

"So that's why you broke it off with Cliff! You think you can do better than an alluringly handsome lawyer?"

"Hey!" Danny defended his self, for some reason taking Morgan's opinion to heart.

"I'm sorry Dr. C, you have amazing lips, and well," he laughed, "I'm no stranger to your naked body–"

"Alright, Morgan. Stop now. Time to stop." Mindy raised a hand to quiet him and grabbed her glasses, "thank you. For these." She grabbed Danny by the crook of the arm in order to tug him into the subway.

Morgan called after them, "I can't keep a secret, in case that is what you are hoping for!" He shouted louder while they descended the steps, "I'm known to some as 'loose-lips'!"

Mindy and Danny again shared a small standing area on the first car on the 6 train. "Could we lose our jobs?" Mindy truthfully spilled her worries.

"Nah. Nope." Danny answered confidently and leaned his head back. "I think a lot goes on in that office that we don't know about. People mind their business."

"Okay, that is exactly false. Literally this morning three colleagues of mine heard me reject the romantic advances of another person that works in our building. It's like we live in a sorority, Danny."

"Maybe you shouldn't get around so much in your place of work." He laughed.

"'_Get around,_' Danny? What am I, a '_harlot'_? I date a perfectly reasonable amount of people. Besides, repeated exposure, namely in an apartment or office, can spawn romantic affection. It's just natural, Danny."

"Oh, yeah?" He looked at her and slid his hand down the pole to encompass hers.


	4. Chapter 4

The pair got to Danny's apartment and stood in the doorframe, looking out over the living room like a math test no one studied for. Mindy pursed her lips.

"So. I haven't showered since California. I smell like Gary Busey. Can I–" Mindy looked over at a beaming Danny. "Alright. I meant alone. That's–"

"Oh yeah, right, of course," he tried not to look disappointed.

"I mean…" she added, "I guess you haven't showered either…"

* * *

Two hours later, Mindy was covered in pruned skin and she thought it was time to go home. "Hey Min," Danny came out into the living room in a navy towel, "why don't you leave that suitcase here?"

"What do you mean, Danny?"

"I said I want everything. Mindy, we've known each other for years," his voice was croaking so low until he was whispering, "I don't want to wait anymore."

"You want to move in together?" Mindy couldn't choose between her confused face and a small, growing smile. Danny nervously flexed his jaw.

"Yeah…" he looked up at the ceiling, "but more than that."

Mindy swallowed. She was now whispering, "like…what?" It felt like she was watching intently as a third person in a romantic comedy and she was breathless and couldn't peel her eyes off his profile.

"I want to be with you all the time. Now that we're like this," he looked out of the corner of his eye with a lopsided smile, "it doesn't hurt anymore. I want this feeling to last forev–"

"Yeah sure." She stopped him before he overwhelmed her, "yeah, Danny, let's do this!" She raised her hand awkwardly to high-five him, not having experience living with a man in a New York apartment since Tom. Casey, in retrospect, seemed like more of an adventure than a partner in life.

Danny grabbed her wrist and lowered it. "Really?" He smiled genuinely, a full smile with glistening, worried eyes. They sealed it with a kiss.

* * *

The next day at work, Danny and Mindy tried to stagger their entrance given the circling news.

Peter walked over, "Dr. Reed wanted to speak to you two, I guess a partner meeting."

Both of their stomachs dropped.

"Listen," Jeremy began, dramatically, "I understand you two are engaging in sexual relations."

Mindy couldn't control herself and snickered. "Jeremy," she whined.

"We're together." Danny interrupted.

Mindy smiled and nodded.

The gossip-side of Jeremy got the better of him and he blurted out, "really? Is it serious–," though he retracted it, "sorry, you're not obligated to answer that. As I always say, it is hard to mix work and love but it's _not_ hard to mix work and sex." Mindy, raising her hand to silence him, drew his focus again to his responsibilities as HR, "Morgan assured me I was his only confidant."

Danny grabbed Mindy's hand at the end of their uncomfortable meeting, taking the reigns as they walked into reception together. Morgan walked over to them, "I'm SO sorry, Dr. L! Question: are you fired? Second question: can I set up a weight room in your office?"

"No Morgan! We're not fired!" Mindy answered angrily.

"Woah woah woah, did someone get the pink card?" Peter came over, cocky as ever, having heard Mindy's scream.

"Okay, no one is getting fired!"

"Why'd you three meet without me?" Insecure Peter was back.

Danny and Mindy looked at each other and nodded. Mindy did her best whisper, "I am seeing someone in the office," she pointed her thumb at Danny, "actually, uh, this guy right here."

Peter's eyes opened wide and he distractedly nodded, doing an analysis of the information in his head. "You were literally JUST in a relationship with someone else."

Danny, now sweating, proudly said, "well I'm the one that stepped up and… we're moving in which each other."

Peter was in too much disbelief and discomfort to add more than "well, good luck with that." He patted Mindy roughly on the shoulder.

* * *

At the end of the day, in Danny's office, Mindy stepped in and closed the door. "Okay, I have been thinking about this all day. Are we even compatible, Danny? What are we doing?"

He stood up from his desk, worried that all of his efforts over the past few days could slip through his fingers. "Mindy," his voice cracked severely as he came around and sat in front of her, "I'm–I'm in love with you. I've known since the day you got out of jail. You're angry and rash like I am–" He grabbed her hand and put it to his chest, "but somehow you're wiser than me. You're SO much wiser than me. I need you and I want you and you just, you make my life better, Min."

"I love you, too," she said, so quiet it was almost to herself.

"I'm worried that I am one of those jerks that you date and dispose of and I don't want to lose you, I can't let you go like I always do." He put his forehead against her forehead and cupped her face, "never again." He breathed into her mouth.

"Alright, little Shakespeare," she tried not to imply anything too quickly but proceeded, "I promise you'll be the last guy I ever date."

He smiled fully and his nostrils flared. They kissed for seconds before returning to professionalism.

Happily ever after?

Yup.


End file.
